Last Friday, students went to Lighthouse Point for a barbecue to celebrate the final day of the program. We sat in our pavilion to munch on some burgers, and then the crew quickly scattered to the various “stations.” Some played a game of two-hand-touch football on the grass, others got soaked in the splash pad, and still others sunbathed on the beach. Before we headed back to campus, we all gathered together for one last round of “Shoutouts.” Students recognized their peers and teachers for the wonderful things that had happened during the day, accompanied by all the usual motions: “Skittles,” “Dynamite,” “Utz,” “The Wave” …

Playing touch football

The Co-Directors and 9th Grade Teachers said a brief word about the 9th grade, and those “graduates” were called up one-by-one to receive their U.S. Grant Diplomas.

We headed back to Dwight Hall for one last “Students United” cheer, and then students were dismissed for the summer!

From all of us here at the teacher team, we would like to extend an enormous THANK YOU to the students and parents of U.S. Grant this year.

Parents, thank you for motivating your students, for shuttling them to and from camp, for engaging your kids about their work at dinner, and for engaging with us so thoroughly in our attempts to create the best possible experience for the students. We have enormous respect for all the time you put in–and are a little jealous that you get to keep spending time with your kids.

Sunbathing on the beach!

Students, what can we say? Thank you so much for your energy and enthusiasm, for coming every day ready to learn, for teaching us new things, and for making us excited to come in every morning. You are all amazing people. We hope you had fun and learned a lot in the process. We will miss you!

Ninth graders: good luck in high school! We’re sure you’re going to rock it. And please come and visit!

Everyone else: have a great school year, and we hope to see you next summer!

And, more imminently, we hope to see you all at the mid-fall reunion (details TBD)!

Also, over the course of the next week we will be posting some videos from the final showcase, so check back in for those.

It has been a real pleasure and honor to work with you all this summer.